hi, everyone. the "news nation" is following the crucial conflict in the race for the presidency. in fact, we have video of the president arriving in new york an hour ago before touching ground. the president answered questioned about the big expectations tonight. >> how do you feel about tonight? >> i feel fabulous. look at this beautiful day, gorgeous. i hope you enjoy the weather. >> what are you going foose? are you aware michelle voted for you yesterday? >> thank goodness. >> meanwhile, governor romney arrived in new york earlier this morning. the governor reportedly spent

much of his flight talking with ohio senator rob portman. portman, of course, is playing the role of president obama and governor romney's practice sessions. up tonight's town hall style debate at hofstra university poses unique challenges for president obama and governor romney. both must exchange and confront each other while at the same time showing more concern for voters. the first read team notes president obama must show he's a fighter and explain his vision for a second term. mitt romney needs to show he can connect with americans. >> you're going to see an exceptionally strong debate performance tonight from the president. >> you walk in front of the jury at closing argument, and you don't have a few good facts on your side, you're going to have perry mason at your lawyer or you're losing the case. >> your one question for the president? >> why would the last four years be better? >> we're moving, man, come on. >> the setting is familiar to president obama. he sparred in the same location

with john mccain only four years ago. let memathiet matthews, host of "hardball." they refer to this as the closing argument. there is one more debate, but is this the closing argument in many respects? >> reporter: well, i think tonight is a night for the president to energize his people. most voters are women. it's a simple mathematical the fact that was overlooked by him in the last debate. he never talked about rousing his women voters. he has a great gender gap. he has to develop it further to win the laelection. he pushed through gen the republican party's opposition a requirement women make as much as men. that's a huge issue with people. every young woman that grows up should know her time and work is as valuable as the guy sitting

next to her. that's number one. number two, he never pointed out the fact that the republican party has an extremist position on borabortion rights. they would basically criminalize it in their platform. they're extremists. he has to defend aggressively his economic direction, the decisions he made, saving the auto industry, basically using stimulus, which the other guy wants to do. basically said i set a course to take us from the collapse to the stock market back up to where we were. for unemployment i take it down from a direction that took us past double digit. i take this down below eight. we're getting there. you don't start talking about the second term unless you defend the first term. there's no way to talk about the next four years without the last four years. he has to play aggressive as hell defense on the economy and not expect to win otherwise.

>> okay. so you got this new gallup poll/"usa today" poll today where it shows a one-point difference. it was a double digit when female voters were brought into the equation. you brought up ledbetter, and it will focus around the economy. i will play this sound clip from two years. let me finish, please. >> there's nothing important than what you make an hour. >> i agree. two years ago velma hart was as a cnbc town hall. she's a female african-american supporter of president obama. she'll be on the show later. let me play what she said to president obama, and if he gets a similar question this time around, how does he answer it this time in play velma hart, please. >> i'm one of your middle class americans, and quite frankly i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted defending you and your administration and defending the mantle of change i voted for and deeply disappointed with where we are right now. >> how does the president answer

that tonight if it's posed to him? >> you have to deal with objective facts. if that's that person's condition, that's what it is. she has to live with the facts. the facts are our economy is better than it was. the facts are the stock market has doubled. we've come back from a direction the republicans left the country with going past double-digits back down to below eight. 5 million new jobs are facts. he has to put facts on the table. he might make that woman satisfied, but his job is to talk to the country and tell them the facts and they're good. >> absolutely. that's what his supporters are saying. let me play one of the perils governor romney may face, another town hall exchange where a high school student was asking governor romney about the future, and listen to his awkward and much-panned answer. let me play it. >> i'm a senior in high school right now, going to college next year, and it's not very cheap. so i was just curious what if

elected you would do with regards to college tuition. >> the brendan steele thing i can do for you is to tell you to shop around. you don't want to have huge debts, and i'm not -- i know that it would be popular for me to stand up sxa i'm going to give you government money to make sure to pay for your college, but i'm not going to promise that. what i'm going to tell you is shop around and get a good price. >> that answer was seen as insensitive. you have some incentive for governor romney in the midwest, but if he tells people to shop around and good luck, that will go down like a lead balloon, chris. >> where did he shop around? harvard? he didn't have to shop. his parents paid for it. i don't think it's the same thing as identifying with the average american. i was on student loans. that's how i got through holy cross. that's the normal american situation. to say to shop around? community college? thank you mr. big shot. thank you for your hopes for my

career. i was hoping to go to college. why don't you let me and help e me? >> let me talk to you quickly about the numbers out of ohio. romney has picked up steam in florida, virginia, north carolina. the president still has that firewall in some midwest states especially ohio. 51/45. despite all of the recent time romney has spent in ohio, is it the auto industry, the message? what's sticking and keeping obama ahead in that state, which by the way we've repeated no republican has won the white house without ohio. >> yeah, i would start off -- i would start off by -- in fact, the general answer when i get one from a constituent tonight. let me tell you what i've done. a lot of people said leave it alone and let it go bankrupt. the american auto industry is more important than jobs. it's our culture. we build cars and we take pride in being an auto hive producing

country, men and women both. i wasn't going to let that die, that notion of ourselves as an industrial country to get ourselves on wheel. we paid for it and build them. i didn't let that happen. the other guy here wanted it to go bankrupt. that's an easy choice. people say this is hard for me to decide. you have to be a bonehead not to decide between the two guys. it is so easy. you want to have an auto industry, or do you want it to go bankrupt? do you want to have the government tell you what to do with your body when you're a woman or leave it up to the person? these are huge differences. people are scratching their heads. don't vote and don't bother if you think at this point. what's your problem? tonight it should be clear. it shouldn't be that tough on the other side, because the president ought it to make it clear. bankruptcy or an auto industry? social security and medicare or vouchers? what do you want? the president doesn't have to be angry tonight or upset. i get upset. he doesn't have to get upset.

he has to explain the difference between him and romney. romney will dodge ball it and push balance and say i changed my mind last night. the president can say you said two weeks ago, and this is your position. it's not that hard. i think obama and the president of the united states should defend his economic record. that's the most important thing. >> there's no shortage of people giving him advice for the past two weeks. chris, thank you very much. >> thank you, tamron. >> our special primetime coverage kicked off at 8:00 eastern on msnbc. a new reaction this afternoon at secretary of state hillary clinton takes the heat for the security decision that failed to prevent the deadly attack at the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. >> i take responsibility. i'm in charge of the state department. 60,000-plus people all over the world, 275 posts. the president and vice president certainly wouldn't be knowledgeable about specific

decisions that are made by security professionals. >> and just moments ago republican senator kelly ayotte doubled down on the gop criticism in response to what secretary clinton has said. >> certainly laudable that the secretary of state came forward like this, but she's clearly trying to be loyal and cover for the president and vice president. >> let me bring in the chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. we know this is domestic and foreign policy. libya, it's impossible for it not to come up tonight. i have to talk about the facts here. secretary clinton says the buck stops with her. she is taking the heat for lack of a better description. would that be the appropriate chain? would the white house know this kind of information, or would it be to the state department and officials? >> it depends on which information. clearly, the president's intelligence brief could have and should have told him what

the threat levels were in libya, what the situation politically is in libya. he gets the president's daily brief, the pdf that all presidents receive from the intelligence community. over the course of weeks and months, he should have known and presumably did know exactly what was happening in libya whether the british ambassador was threatened what the threat levels were. if you get down to the nitty grit hey, the detail of wlooefr a particular security team should have been withdrawn or extended for another couple of months, that's mid-level state department bureau see. it's clear on the eve of this debate hillary clinton is trying to take the blame and shoulder the responsibility and take the heat off the president. i'm not sure how well that will succeed with the people in the audience tonight. if any of them does ask that question, they're going to want to know exactly what went wrong and what's the president's

responsibility. if they don't ask the question, i think mitt romney will try to bring it up. >> obviously, the timing of her statement is partly why people say her taking the heat. in reality if she made this comment perhaps even last week before this eve of this debate, would it be seen as some kind of strategy? you have kelly ayotte and others saying -- think praise her for stepping forward. she is the secretary of state. >> well, i think you've seen certainly from the day of the hearing last week, last tuesday, when the hearing was held and mid level and upper level state department officials testified and took a lot of heat. there was a lot of blame going on, and clearly the white house -- the people in the white house were saying, hey, this is the state department's responsibility, not us. then you have the problem that they experienced with joe biden saying the other night in the vice president's debate that we did not know. they later clarified that to

mean we, at the white house did not know. the state department knew. so the vice president sort of throwing the intelligence community and the state department under the bus. it was time for secretary of state to come out and the hill is going to keep up this attack as you say kelly ayotte, lindsey graham and the others. they see a vulnerability. this is a way to brig it down a notch or two or three. president obama's very high ratings on handling national security. >> if he's asked tonight does the puck stop with you regarding what happened in libya, despite what secretary clinton has said, is there a right or wrong answer or any answer he gives will be politicized tonight and tomorrow and beyond perhaps before the election? >> i'm sure they have thought this through, and depending on how the question is framed, it's more appealing, i think, when people are already suspicious and kept cskeptical and these a undecided voters by the gallup organization. it's always berlt given the way

people think about politicians to try and take sfont yourself. harry truman was popular for that, and decades and decades later it stands true. >> all right. andrea mitchell, great pleasure as always. enjoy the evening. can't wait to see what happens in a few hours. president obama and governor romney supporters square off in our little "news nation" mock debate over what both men need to accomplish tonight. they're ready for their debate coming up. plus, as mentioned, she had one of the most memorable moments in town hall. velma hart says voters should think with their heads and not their hearts. a lot have tweeted us with very strong opinions of velma hart. she's going to tell us what she thinks next. first, there's a sample of the political buzz leading up to tonight's big showdown. >> this is one of the biggest

debates given the dynamics of this race i think probably since 1980. >> and you can join our conversation on twitter at @tamronhall and at @newsnation. keep your thoughts coming. we might read some of them. humans -- even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why, at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement and accident forgiveness if you qualify. see what else comes standard at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? something this delicious could only come from nature. new nectresse.

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welcome back. talk about a razor-thin margin. this is the real clear politics averages of polls. shows what we mean when we say tonight is high stakes. going in, the president and governor romney are locked up at 47% nationally separated by 0.3 of a percent. let's bring in the "news nation"

political panel. david goodfriend and a.b. stoddard and nationally syndicated radio talk show host steve diese. look at the polls here. let's go down the line where the president is leading governor romney right now. he is ahead in all of the categories, the economy, taxes, health care, international affairs. medicare. romney is leading in the conversation regarding the deficit here. what does romney need to do? what is the key to his message beyond showing the ability, which you're skeptical if he has the ability to show this connection and warmth, that certainly people need during these hard times? >> tamron, just to allude to what chris matthews said earlier, i'm happy to be the friendly neighborhood theocrat this afternoon. i think governor romney needs to continue doing what he did in

the last debate. i'm fascinated in the dynamic with this showdown. i don't think president obama has to be on the defensive a lot in his political career. i saw mitt romney in two presidential primaries not perform well on the defensive. i think this whole thing tonight comes down to who is able to grab early momentum and put the other guy on the defensive. i think it's impossible to predict who it will be, because you have the unstable human element here with the town hall format and the questions from the actual voters. they will frame questions differently than media members will. they won't necessarily write the same premise to a question we in the media might. i think this is absolutely a fascinating exercise. it's wide open and impossible to predict what will happen. >> i think when people say the president has not faced or somehow tried to measure the difficulties, he went against the clintons. they are, of course, team members now. we were all here four years ago. that didn't just evaporate into

air. you don't face bill clinton and hillary clinton and not come out a tougher person when you, in fact, win, and he did. when you have conservatives and republicans paint this picture of the president not having had his back against the wall, are they imagining or somehow erasing the memories of the last election? >> listen, i don't mind admitting to you i was a hillary clinton supporter. >> i remember you from those years, of course. >> we all closed ranks behind our nominee, barack obama, and gladly so. but let's face it, man. he ran probably one of the most exquisitely executed campaigns in modern history, and he was taking on the standard bearers of our party, the democratic party. he won rather decisively. i don't buy into the notion that he's not somehow battle-tested. i would be a little worried if i was a romney supporter right now going into this particular type of debate where empathy for the

common person is on display or lack thereof. these are questions posed by audience members that are undecided voters, and the question that the viewer will inevitably ask is who among the two men is relating to the life situation of these individuals. i don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure out that the person who was raised by a single mother, whooz grandfather was unemployed and had student loans to pay off a few years ago is going to be able to make that connection better than the guy who's daddy was a governor and multi-millionaire and raised in a private school. >> in all fairness not all wealthy people close their minds? the kennedys are not scraping pennies together, and certainly they are considered one of the most fill lan tlop pick families of all time. it's who you are in time. it's separate and apart from george romney. it's who mitt romney is. >> tamron, there are examples of very wealthy individuals who

have became president and empathized with people. franklin roosevelt can polio. he could relate. jack kennedy came from a wealthy family, but he, too, seemed to be able to connect. it's a problem for mitt romney. everybody knows it, so what i'm looking for going into this debate is whether or not he will be able to overcome that inherit sho shortup co d shortcoming he has a candidate. >> we'll talk about why the obama team takes issue with the gallup poll, but it shows mitt romney closed an incredible gap among female voters one percentage point behind the president. chris matthews and others have talked about women's issues needing to be brought up in the debate. chris said lily ledbetter, even when we know when romney's team asked if they supported it with this infamous conference call with the silence, and we'll get back to you was the response

when asked about lily ledbetter. you have women watching tonight. that's the majority that needs to be won over and convinced. the pressure is on the president. he has the record according to his supporters. he has put to put the big cell for female voters to solidly support him. >> that's the awkward ns with this setup with a town hall where there's a limited engagement of the moderator and they're not follow-up, et cetera. president obama maybe is not asked tonight a question about from these noncommitted voters who really don't like obama or romney at this point. a question about dependence on foreign oil or too much government spending. what if he's not asked a question about women's health issues? he's going to force it in the middle of an immigration race because he thinks he's running out of time. not only is there a parity with women, but women find these women's health issues far more

important than voting priorities than we understood so far in the campaign. it is a huge opportunity for the president. i don't know if he dpets a chance to take it. >> that is a key point. pros perot has endorsed governor romney. your home state, "des moines register" wrote -- ross perot said we can't aafford four more years where debt mushrooms out of control. for the past four years we squandered one opportunity after the next to turn it around. the longer we delay acting the steeper the price we will have to pay again. that is ross perot. our first read team says this is one rich man endorsing another rich man and his politics are republican-leaning. does he lend any credibility to mitt romney, who his critics say is very vague and tonight may not close the door on some questions people have regarding

how he will attack the budget, the deficit and what loopholes, for example, are still lingering that he would address? >> no. i don't think it helps him at all. i think ross perot is an irrelevant figure. i think this endorsement is an attempt to grab some rel vant see. it's one of the old heest states in the country so maybe some remember 1992. in the end it comes down to which two men do you believe has a better plan that they can implement to get the country moving forward the next four years? i want to go back to something david said. i was insinuated the president is not battle-tested. certain men in certain situations thrive in certain situations better. i think when you're used to being the person that dick indicates the agenda, the alpha male as they are, they're both better on offense. you saw that in the last debate

when obama wut romney on defense. this debate comes down to who puts the other person on defense first and ride na momentum. you can't contrive it, tamron. it has to be spontaneously from a question from the audience that turns the debate in your if i can l-- >> i want to quote what you said, the unknown element here is the audience members. velma hart told the president she was exhausted defending him, and she was impassioned and made headlines because of what was her honest assessment as someone who supported him. you don't know what the person in the audience that every day manner woman is going to say in their question, how they're going to pose that question, david, and that's the variable that no pundit, no expert on air right now can determine before the question coming out of that individual's mouth. >> yeah, it's really true. i forget which debate this was.

it was in the '92 cycle with a man with pony tail stood up and said i feel like an abused child. that guy the next day was la lambbasted for asking the question. i don't think we can predict what will happen, but i believe this. in the dna of each candidates is a life experience and a tendency to empathize or not. it will come aacross whether they try to make it come across or not, it will come across if they let themselves show their emotions and show their background and feelings. i want to get back to something with this mitt romney endorsement. mitt romney needs a new calculator. he's standing up and saying we'll do a 20% tax cuts and pay for it closing loopholes. that's only 4%. the guy needs better numbers. >> we'll see if he breaks down numbers or reveals new

information, different information according to the critics that he's been providing. thank you very much. coming up, the obama camp is disputing as mentioned this latest gallup poll that shows governor romney leading in battleground states. mark murray has the first read. we'll look at the issues with this poll. plus, which family member do voters say mitt romney most reminds them of? think about it, because we'll have the answer. it is just one of the things we thought you should know. first, the first lady tells ryan seacrest what's going through her mind during these big debates. >> does he look to you for encouragement? >> you know, i can never tell, because i'm always primed just in case he is. so i'm perched. i'm looking at him and smiling. i'm giving a thumbs up if he can see it. treatment as prilosec otc. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america.

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dishwashing photo-op at a soup kitchen in ohio. it turns out that the charity's president was not happy with this photo-op. i'm going to talk about it with martin bashir. first, ann romney weighs in ahead of tonight's big showdown. >> mitt's prepared. mitt's confident. mitt's got a good presence about him, and mitt's running because he believes in america. >> and be sure to check out our "news nation" tumblr page. you'll find updated pictures. as we go to break, i think this is from martin bashir's cd you can buy on itunes. i better get a percentage of that. martin will join us shortly. [ female announcer ] ready for a taste of what's hot? check out the latest collection of snacks from lean cuisine. creamy spinach artichoke dip, crispy garlic chicken spring rolls. they're this season's must-have accessory. lean cuisine. be culinary chic.

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campaign in the key state of ohio. the court refusing to issue an order that would have cut back on early voting in that state and the days leading up to the general election. ohio republicans tried to cancel early voting on on the weekend before the election for everyone except members of military. the democratic party and the obama campaign challenged that plan in court saying it would disproporti disproporti disproportionately affect elderly and the poor. president obama and mitt romney are tried among likely voters who are women in a dozen battle ground states. it drew an angry response from joel benson, and he called the poll is an extreme outlier defying the trebds seen in every other battleground and national poll. mark murray joins us live from the site of tonight's debate. we hear from the republicans i guess last week or so regarding a couple of polls they were not happy with, but specifically,

mark, what's the issue with this "usa today"/gallup poll? >> there's a lot of criticism on all the polls from both sides. as you pointed out the national poll that we consider the gold standard came under criticism in this very tight contest. the obama cam taken took issue with one big thing. when you look at all the female voter, the split between obama and romney, they say they have a healthy lead, which that gallup poll showed there was a tie. in fact, our own nbc/"wall street journal" poll of maryland, ohio, virginia and florida shows president obama enjoys a double-digit lead with women. they wanted to correct the record. they thought that was a bad narrative that somehow president obama is tied with mitt romney when it comes to women. >> mark, we talked so much about the past few weeks and months about the importance of the female voters based on just the numbers alone. you got chris matthews and others and we've brought this up. the first debate, lily ledbetter

and other issues important to women voters beyond the obvious issues with the economy. specific issues were not brought up. they hope for an opportunity tonight, but this is based on the questions posed to the president and governor romney. >> that's right. actually, the questions and how they're actually asked are going to play an important role. i will tell you, you're right. women's issues didn't come up in the first debate. they came up in the vice presidential debate, and given they didn't come up in the first debate, i can tell you the romney campaign is confident that mitt romney moves some numbers with women when it comes to favorability and other things. they're hoping this is an opportunity for them to connect even better with women. as you pointed out, president obama is going to draw a tough contrast, the kind of contrast he did in the battleground markets of northern virginia and denver in two key swing states. >> real quick, your first read team says regarding this gallup poll that the obama team is

taking issue with, the team writes you typically don't complain about the polls when everything is going well, but in that nbc "wall street journal" poll with women in florida, ohio and virginia, double-digit lead is going in the right directions for the president. >> well, you see why they wanted to actually fight back against that narrative. i think you hit the nail on the head there, sometimes when campaigns actually send out these types of memos, it gives off a sense of nervousness, being defensive, and sometimes you don't want that in the final stretches of the campaign. the obama camp think it was important to correct the record. we will see what the polls show after tonight's debate. >> thank you, mark. joining me from hofstra university, msnbc's own martin bashir. martin, look at you all smiles out there before we went to break. we played a little of your cd that i love so much. the bottom line, separate and apart from knowing music, you know politics. you know people really well. what do you think folks want to hear tonight?

>> well, i wish i could hear the question, tamron, but i'll assume you ask what i expect from the debate tonight. i think that it's going to be very different to the first debate in the sense of the president's performance. i think that one of the key things that the president has to do is argue for the past before he presents a vision for a future. he has to be able to present the voters of america why the things he's tried to do have been beneficial to this country. so saving the auto industry, saving the country from a financial collapse into depression, organizing equal pay for women in the form of the lily ledbetter act. le all of these kind of these responsible functions he carried out so far. we're not where we should be, but he has to prosecute the case for the past before he shows the future. >> what's the mission for governor romney?

>> well, it's difficult, isn't it? none of us know who is going to turn up. it's like it's a circus act where the audience says, look behind you, mr. president. he'll look behind, and mr. romney will have disappeared because he's like a ghost when it comes to his policies. nobody really knows what he believes about anything. >> all right. martin, i have to ask you because i love the way you can colorfully describe and explain things. congressman ryan on a trip in ohio, he goes by this soup kitchen and for whatever reason decides to help clean the kitchen. as we understand it now, there were dirty dishes left for him. it was originally reported these dishes were clean. now our team is reporting dirty dishes. he launches in and cameras ready. the soup kitchen released a statement saying it's strictly in our bylaws not to do it. they showed up and didn't have permission. they got a volunteer to open the doors. the photo-op was not accurate.

he did nothing. ryan's campaign released a statement saying it was a great opportunity to highlight the importance of volunteerism and local charities. two weeks in a row you have strange pictures of congressman ryan. the little muscle picture in "time" magazine, the one i love so much, and now this soup kitchen. what do you make of this guy and photo opes? >> we ought to thank congressman ryan, because if his budget passed through the house by republicans, if it would come to pass, meals on wheels would be killed, transportation services to the disabled would be destroyed, food stamps would be evis rated. i think many americans would end up in soup kitchens like that. so i don't think we should be critical. we should be grateful that what mr. ryan has shown us is exactly what will happen to people if the kind of vicious and callous budget that he would wish to impose on american people ends up coming to pass.

i'm glad we went it there. listen, my wife volunteers at various places and so do i. it's interesting. mr. ryan talks about himself being a catholic. i was reminded of the suermon o the mount where it says do not do your good deeds in front of people to be seen by them. do not sound a trumpet before you go as the hypocrites do. so in that sense i think he wasn't being particularly consistent with his own catholic faith. >> are you a bit harsh with him that you have people from both sides, john kerry, photo ops are nothing new in politics in the u.s. especially. >> tamron, no. no, tamron, i'm not being hard on him. i'm saying that that kind of emergency final provision for people in need is what will happen if 23 million americans end up losing the kind of support that they're provided in social terms by the government. that's where people will end up.

i mean, i volunteer somewhere in manhattan, and i can tell you, there are lines of people who are in desperate need even now. if the kind of budget that paul ryan wishes to impose on this country were ever to come to pass, that's where people will go for the needs that they have. >> in tonight's debate no props are allowed, but perhaps the president will reflect upon what you've said and bring up these soup kitchen moments with congressman ryan to go after the budget plan presented by ryan that is partly or somewhat supported by governor romney to make a larger point than the photo-op point, which was maybe he thinks he's a hands-on individual. i think under the way you articulated it, martin, this is an opportunity or moment if the president has that chance to talk about the soup kitchen and talk about the real people every day who don't have the money to pay for their groceries and to feed their families as a result of where we are. thank you, martin.

have a good one. >> thank you, tamron. >> you can catch the martin bashir show weekdays at 4:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. up next, two years ago she had one of the most memorable moments in a town hall on the economy. >> quite frankly, i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted defending you, defending your administration. >> sick and tired of being sick and tired. velma hart will join me live. a lot have tweeted your opinions about miss hart and where she stand. we'll find out in her own words what she feels she has in common from voters that want to see more from president obama, and would she vote for governor romney? but first, there's a lot going on today. here's some things we thought you should know. a group of swing voters in ohio tell peter hart what relative mitt romney provides them of. the answer? like a stepdad. it points out how governor

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more convenient and more rewarding. it's the reason why we don't have costumers. we have members. american express. welcome in. i'm one of your middle class americans, and quite frankly i'm exhausted. i'm exhausted defending you and your administration and the mantle of change i voted for and deeply disappointed where we are right now. >> that was a frustrated obama supporter velma hart two years ago famously calling out the president at that town hall meeting about the economy at washington, d.c. velma joins live from washington. velma, thank you so much for your time. >> it's my pleasure to be here. thank you for having me. >> like millions of others you're planning to watch this debate tonight. are you still a president obama

supporter? >> absolutely. there's no question. >> what are you looking for tonight? where is your mind? are you still frustrated or disappointed? where do you stand right now? >> i don't think there's an adjective for them. one of the concerns i have is the first debate. i think for a lot of reasons it didn't go as well to for our president like it needed to. i look for a strong showing tonight by our president to address specific key issues important to people like myself in this country. i believe he will come through for us as well. >> you were laid off and were fortunate enough to get aa new job. when you made the comment to the president, you were frustrated with defending his record, defending what you wanted as a mantle of change. would you ask that same question two years later as we enter very close to this general election? >> you know, it's a great question, because we're at a

critical pivot point. one of the things that i've talked about and i've talked to a number of people about is i really wish we could take down the cr the creshendo of this. one is very supportive of women, middle class americans. he has a priority it to help those who are in need, who is trying to rebuild the country and the other has a different agenda. from my standpoint the choices are very, very clear. i don't think i'd ask him that question now. there might be a different discussion. >> when you asked that question september 2010, the unemployment was 9.6%. it is now 7.8%. you expressed concern to the president that you and your family were going to go, quote, to the hot dog and beans era that you were worried about putting food on the table. many americans are asked this in polls every day. do you believe as a result of the president's policy that this country is going in the right direction now? >> i feel like it is. i feel some positive momentum

but it's very slow. if you asked anyone in the white house the response would be the same. things take time. i'm reminded of president clinton's comments regarding the last four years. no other president, present day or even his own administration, could have donne any better tha what this president has done. i believe that's true. that's unprecedented. i'm a proud supporter and will continue to support him regardless of the nay-sayers who blo believe people like me don't have a voice. >> you have a voice. it was heard loud and clear. thank you, ma'am. up next, our gut check. t, dad, . [ voice of dennis ] allstate. with accident forgiveness, they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. [ voice of dennis ] indeed. are you in good hands? [ voice of dennis ] indeed.

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welcome back. time for the "news nation" gut check. is tonight a must-win for president obama? go to facebook.com/newsnation to cast that vote. that does it for this edition of "news nation." aim tamron hall.

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